All major AI providers are working on AI agents. In addition to OpenAI, Perplexity has also released one and calls it the Perplexity Assistant. According to a post by Perplexity, it can, for example, reserve a table at a restaurant for you. Recently, OpenAI claimed that plugins would be able to make such reservations. These plugins were supposed to be a major competition to the common app stores. However, plugins have been replaced by so-called GPTs, and now AI agents are being introduced.
The new AI agents operate differently. They are supposed to be better at reasoning, which is the ability of AI models to think logically and make inferences. This is typically achieved through reinforcement learning, where learning is enhanced through rewards. The Perplexity Assistant can also write emails, book rides, and set reminders for appointments. Unlike plugins or GPTs, you don’t need to choose an extension; you stay within the Assistant app. If you want to book an Uber, the Assistant can independently use the Uber app, acting like a person. However, you should make the final decision yourself, especially when it involves payment. Perplexity Assistant does not work with all services, as some interfaces are missing.
The Assistant can also answer questions, naturally using a KI search engine. Since the underlying model is multimodal, it can answer questions about what is visible on the screen, potentially even using the camera. Perplexity Assistant is available in the Google Play Store, but not yet for iOS. The AI agent is free to use. This is different from OpenAI’s newly released Operator, which costs $200 per month and is integrated into ChatGPT.
AI agents are everywhere. On Android devices, Google’s AI assistant, called Gemini, is generally always running. It is also integrated natively into new Samsung Galaxy S25 devices. This means many people will automatically have an assistant on their smartphones without needing to install an app from Perplexity or OpenAI. This advantage has been utilized by Google’s search engine on smartphones and Microsoft’s Teams, as many were already using Outlook.
AI agents can also take on specific tasks, such as in professional settings. Salesforce offers AI agents for customer interactions, capable of responding to customer issues and operating within a predefined scope. Microsoft and Zoom each offer AI agents for their communication environments. The Microsoft Copilot and the AI Companion can, for example, automatically summarize meetings, create appointments and tasks, and more.